Luminous sign



y 1953 P. A. GADOMSKI 2,637,927

LUMINOUS SIGN Filed Jan. 5, 1949 ha 5 w A? \t 2 /0 60 Q /4 INVENTOR. P5752 A, moons/r1.

74 BY 64 7a 4a 20 z? M1W grroeuers.

Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUMNOUsSIG-N Peter A. Gadomski, south Bend", Ina. assume-mummy 5, 1949;Sei iafi Nitrates: 101mm (01. in -1'42 This invention relates; to improvements in luminous signs? The primary" object" the invention is to" pro:- Vide a sig'n composed o fi characters formedof plastic, translucent and luinincus=matei ia-l,v cons'tructed with marginal portions having; the ron any of increasing light emi'ssi'on comparecl to' the light emission: occurring at: the remaining portions thereon whereby the character presents a sti i k rig and=attention attracting appearance,

further object is" to provide a sign character formed ct. translucent. plastic sheet materiai having fluorescentmaterial incorpcrateclv therein, wherein the marginal portions of said character are bent angularly'forwardly to expose the eclges thereofi to view,'. said character having the property 0t collecting ambient light and. emitting the same in greater concentration at said exposed edges than at the remaining portions of said character A further object is to: provide ailuminous. sign which is. simple in construction, whose' characters may be: assembled in any desired relation by the user andsaid relation changed quickly and; at will, which has a novel mounting,- and whiohis render-est luminous by ambientlig-ht" as ell. as by illuminating means associated! therewith.

A further object is to; provide a sign corn-posed at a plurality of, individual: rigidsign characters, each having; a mounting member securfd atan edge. thereot to extend alongside the character and. ademtedv to have a resilient detachable loching engagement in an elongated grooveor socket in a'carrien or supporting member.

Other objects will be=apparent= from-the-fbllowing; specification In the drawing: r

Fig.- l is a face View illustrating. one emhod ilment of. the invention.

Fig, 21s a vertical? sectional View taken on line 21-2" offFig. I.

Fig. I; is a front perspective view of a sigh characters Fig. 4 1s afragmentary perspective View of an alternative construction with parts shown in section; r

Fig 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of another. alternativeconstruction of a sign.

Referring to the drawingi'which' illustrates the preferredembo'di'ment of the invention, and part'i'cularl'y to Figs. 1 to 3 thereof, the numeral: Ill designates sign characters adapted to be" used i'nimaking' up a sign for advertising and other purposes The characters [0 may be formed in awidevariety ofsizes and shapes. and may represent lettersrnumerals' andotherinizliciai Each at these characters is preterably formed of rigid plasticsheet material, and preferably formed: of synthetic resins; such as acrylic, cellulose acetate, styrene: or the like. The material ofwhich the characters are formed is translucent andmay be transparent Also, the material may be plain or colored- Vv here colored, the pigmentation should not be suiiicient' to clestroy the transluceney thereot-.- The plastic material is; ot a character having fluorescent material distribute d. uniformly therethrough the manner wellunderstood in the art, so that the material has at least some measure of luminosity when viewed in ambient light conditions as Wellas in artificially illumin-ated conditions, Each character has: avilat' Web aortion- [2* and marginal portionsl bounding the portion: 2; at all edges thereof, the portions I' l being; at increased thickness in a direction perpendicular to the plane of; the eb l2 and projettingforwardly from the front. surface of said web; In other words, the character is constructed ofdished or recessed cross-sectional configuration iththe concavity facing forwardly. The characters [0 may he formedvin any'suitahl'e manner as by molding; reshaping flat sheet mater-labor the like Where the character'is formed from fi'at sheet mater ial, the marginal portions [Al WilL he of substantially the same thickness as the: plate portion If, but" this condition is not essential and} said. marginal portions" may be thicker or thinner than the} base In. The front edges I 6" of the portions H or each character preferably lie" substantially in' a common plane fbrwardlti'oiiset from the plane or front face oi the web or base ['2' and substantially parallel thereto; v

Each of the characters It has a mounting member. I 3 secured thereto. In the referred embodiment of the in'venti'o'n,v the mounting member liiis formed df'cha-nnel s'h'aDe having a hase'iiii'a nd aipair manages-22'. The mounting member is is' preferably formed of plastic sh et material and" is ofgreater length than width. The" Ease 20' (if each mounting memher'is preferahly cemente Bonded or otherwise secured to theatre ofth e" character at toextend alongside the edgeofithat character am ne in substantially the. same plane asfthe' character. Thefian'ges 2 2' fir'ofiec't outwardly from the character. The hie-tinting. member it may be ositioned in any desired relation respect to the characters f0, as" at the" bottom" thereof, as iilu'str'ate'd at- P8 in his. 1,.0'1 at the too thereofas'illustrated at It in Fig: 1', o'r alor'ig'a" side-thereof. The mounting member's rawill prererabn'r be substantially" coextensive with" the dimension or the letter at the edge to which the same is secured, and may be bonded thereto at one or more points. Thus it will be observed with respect to the characters M, A and U, shown in Fig. 1, the mounting members are secured at two spaced points. The characters T and R of Fig. l, and I of Fig. 3, have the member 18 bonded thereto at only one point. Where that point is restricted, as in the case of the characters T and I, the mounting member I8 is of greater length than the width of the character. In instances where the member [8 is bonded to the curved portion of a character, as shown at Fig. 1 with reference to the character G, the member [8 will extend tangentially and will be of substantially greater length than the extent of the tangential engagement with the character. The cross-sectional configuration of the mounting member 18 may vary but the construction illustrated in Fig. 3 is preferred, in which it will be observed that each of the webs 22 of the channel is curved inwardly, thereby providing a reduced spacing therebetween at their center portions compared to the spacing therebetween at the base and at the mouth of the channel. The flanges or legs 22 of the mounting member l8 preferably have a certain amount of resilience. While each character It is illustrated as provided with one long mounting member, a plurality of short spaced aligned members l8, secured to different parts of one side of the character may be provided.

In the form of the device illustrated herein, the mounting member 18 is of substantially the same width as the thickness or depth of the character II]. this relation is not critical and that the width of said member may be greater or less than the depth of the character l0, although in cases where the width of the member i8 is greater than the depth of the character l0, it is preferred that the front face of the member [8 extend substantially flush with the front edges l6 of the character. In some instances it may be desirable to have the member 18 ofiset rearwardly so that its front surface is positioned rearwardly of the plane of the front edge [6 of the character.

In the use of the characters to form a sign, the mounting members l8 are mounted in an elongated groove in a supporting or carrier member, so positioned that the characters will be spaced from any surface which forms the background therefor. In other words, except for the engagement of the sign characters with the mounting members l8 to which they are secured, the characters It will be spaced from all surfaces or members, whereby light may strike all surfaces thereof, and particularly the back surface thereof. One form of such mounting is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein a carrier 30 of substantially H-shape in cross-section is secured to a block or spacer 32 mounted upon a building wall or other support 34. The H-shape of the carrier 30 is illustrative, and it will be understood that said carrier may be of U-shape if desired. Where the H-shaped member is employed, two lines of sign characters, positioned respectively above and below the member 30, may be utilized. The member 30 provides one or more channels within which the mounting members 18 fit snugly and solidly to provide a firm support for the characters [0. It is preferred that the crosssectional configuration of each of these channels shall substantially conform with the cross-sectional configuration of the mounting members l8 to provide a spring locked detachable fit of the It will be understood, however, that z:

4 members l8 therein. In other words, if the member I8 has its channel legs 22 curved or configured as shown, the side walls of the receiving groove or channel of the member 30 will be similarly curved so that the mounting legs 22 must be sprung or flexed to insert them in the receiving grooves or channel of the member 30 and to remove them from said channel. This is particularly important in cases where the mounting member 30 is not positioned horizontally or where the channel or groove of a horizontal mounting member opens downwardly. The spring locked fit will thus serve to hold the characters against displacement from desired position and against release.

If desired, light-emitting means may be utilized with the sign. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 2, brackets 36 may be mounted by the spacer 32 or by the wall support 34 to position and support light-emitting means, such as neon or fluoroscent light tubes 38 between the wall or support 34 and the rear faces of the characters I0.

Signs formed or constructedin the manner disclosed and illustrated are particularly attractive and are characterized by an outline of each of the sign characters at the edges l6 thereof whose luminous properties are much greater than the luminous properties of the remainder of the character i0. Thus each character is sharply outlined and a two-tone or differential value light transmission effect occurs at each character. The effect is readily observable at all times and regardless of lighting conditions as long as sufficient light exists around the character to render the same visible. In other words, the marginal portions l4 of the character have the property of collecting and concentrating light in substantially greater measure than the base or plate portions 12 of the characters, and the character is visible and will attract attention under condi- I tions in which a plane or flat character formed of the same material would be inconspicuous. The forward projection of the flanges H is of critical importance to produce this effect. The positioning of the character with a similar flange or thickened portion projecting rearwardly possesses this property, if at all, only to very limited and substantially reduced value or extent, and not sufficient to be noticed or to attract attention. The forward projection of the flanges or margins H has a property somewhat similar to ber I8 is inserted in a channel or groove of a support and, where mounted spaced from a wall or support 34, each individual character stands out distinctly, and a sign formed from the characters has a three-dimensional appearance. The use of light emission means, such as the neon or fluorescent tubes 38, increases the luminosity of the characters, and, in cases where colors are involved, either with respect to color of the light or the color of the material from which the character is formed, or both, it is possible to increase the attention-attracting properties or qualities of the sign. The sign may be used either in interior or exterior locations. Where used exteriorly, mechanical anchoring or fastening means, preferably of detachable character, may be used between the mounting member I8 and the support therefor, said securing means being of any character found suitable to insure maintenance of the position of the sign characters and to withstand dislocating stresses, such as wind stresses.

A modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. l. In this construction a different form of mounting is employed, the same preferably constituting a metal plate having a rear flange t2 provided with holes or openings it to receive securing means for attaching the same to a wall or supporting surface 34. An upstanding web 56 is carried by an intermediate portion of the plate 40 spaced forwardly from the flange 12 and defining the rear wall of a channel or groove whose front wall is defined by a second upwardly projecting flange 48 also spaced rearwardly from the front edge of the member it. A front flange 59 projects upwardly and cooperates with the web 48 to define the channel within which the mounting member ll! of the sign character it is received. The channel defined by the base it and the flanges 46 and 43 is adapted to receive an elongated rigid translucent panel 92 which forms a background for the characters 59. This panel 52 may be formed of frosted glass, translucent but not transparent plastic, or any other material found suitable. A neon or fluorescent tube 54 is mounted upon brackets 59 secured to and projecting from the flanges it, the light-emitting tube 54 preferably being positioned at a level substantially centrally with respect to the vertical dimensions of the sign characters ill. The bracket will so position the tube 54 that said tube is spaced rearwardly from the panel 52 and is spaced forwardly from the wall or support 34 which is engaged by the flange it.

This construction possesses the same advantages as the construction previously described, but provides additional advantages of a prefabricated unitary member which can be mounted upon a support quickly and rapidly, which has a built-in support for the light-emitting means, and which has the light-diffusing panel 52. The same advantages of the previously mentioned construction, with respect to the ready mounting of the sign characters It in selected arrangement and the removability thereof for replacement and rearrangement, is also possessed by this device. The width of the base plate 40 of this construction adapts it for mounting upon a horizontal support as an alternative to securing thereof to a vertical support, as will be obvious. Furthermore, the self-contained character of the device renders the device portable, providing that the electrical connections (not shown) for the lamp circuit are detachable, and provided further that arrangements are made for the connection in such circuit of transformers and other electrical components required in a tube operating circuit.

A further modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein an elongated housing is provided, having a back wall 60, a top wall 92 and a bottom wall 64. The front of the housing is open, and flanges or stops 66 at the forward end of the top wall and 68 upon the bottom wall form abutments against which a translucent front closure panel "39 ma bear. A suitable detachable latching member 7?. may be provided to engage the upper margin of the panel 70 and to detachably anchor the same to the casing, as at its top wall 62. The bottom wall 66 of the casing may project forwardly from the stop 68 to form a support upon which the panel iii may bear, and terminates in an upturned flange M at its front end. The spacing between the panel ill and the flange Hi defines a channel into which the mounting members it of Sign characters Ill may be inserted. The dimensions of the parts are such that the translucent panel 79 projects above the top of the sign characters iii. Any suitable light-emitting means, such as 76, may be mounted in sockets it supported by the base 94 rearwardly of the panels i9.

This device may be provided with means for securing the rear wall 69 of the casin to a wall or other vertical support 34%. Alternatively, the unit may be made portable and is adapted to rest flat upon a horizontal supporting surface.

The light from the light source it diffused through the panel 19 to illuminate the character it whose flanges it concentrate that light and emit it in strongest concentration at the edges it of the character or characters.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it will be understood that the construction of the device may be altered within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 claim:

A sign comprising an elongated rigid carrier having a longitudinal groove, a sign character formed of translucent plastic material having a shape representing an indicia and forwardly projecting marginal flanges, and a rigid elongated mounting member secured to one of said flanges and extending alongside and in substantially the same plane as said character, said mounting member having a snug detachable fit in said groove, said carrier and mounting member both being of channel shape in cross-section and said mounting member being resilient, said channel members both having opposed inwardly curved side walls defining reduced dimension portions intermediate the mouth and the base of said channels.

PETER. A. GADOMSKI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,114,545 Simons Oct. 20, 1914 1,239,983 Thunell Sept. 11, 1917 1,428,723 Urness Sept. 12, 1922 1,912,852 Lobel June 6, 1933 2,143,731 Gallas Jan. 10, 1939 2,299,331 Marinone Oct. 29, 1942 2,341,964 Wagner et a1 Feb. 15, 1944 

